BBC trials Internet TV-on-demand service

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) will be launching a pilot project later this month which allows viewers to download TV programmes on a home PC. The downloaded content can be viewed on a computer screen or burned on a DVD. Content for PDA computers will also be made available.

"If we don't enter this market, then exactly what happened to the music industry could happen to us, where we ignore it, keep our heads in the sand and everybody starts posting the content up there and ripping us off," said Ashley Highfield, director of new media and technology at the BBC.

The Internet Media Player (iMP) pilot will be tested on BBC staff, who will be given PDAs and access to a range of BBC programmes.

"We might get an over-positive response because I think a lot of BBC staff would love to be able to catch up on the programmes they missed last night on the bus or on the train," Mr Highfield said. "The quality is staggeringly good. It's slightly better than you get on the seat-backs if you are in a plane, although PDAs have a slightly smaller screen."

An extended trial will be launched later on with 1,000 selected broadband subscribes from AOL, British Telecom and Tiscali.

The iMP project aims to examine whether or not people will watch more television and if they change their viewing times to differ from those of "traditional TV". Time-shift devices, such as digital PVRs (Personal Video Recorders) have proven to be extremely popular in the United Kingdom.

Quote- "If we don't enter this market, then exactly what happened to the music industry could happen to us, where we ignore it, keep our heads in the sand and everybody starts posting the content up there and ripping us off," said Ashley Highfield, director of new media and technology at the BBC.
So, are they charging to download these programs? If so, how do they justify charging for it, and if not, how would they get "ripped off"? The BBC is not a private company...
I still don't get why content "owners" feel they have any right to control how we (non-commercially) view/listen to content that has been broadcast over the public airwaves. If you put an image on a billboard are you telling me I can't take a picture of it and show it to my friends? I know I can't sell it, but not share it? That's just stupid.